Page 164 - CSD - PUD 02 28 19

Kent Nelson

Thursday, February 21, 2019
3:05 PM
1. What drives you to seek this position? Tell me a bit about what you know about the City and the
fit you see with your interests.

In my current position I work for the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority. The problem is living on this
island requires an extreme change in lifestyle. I have started to look at other opportunities that
may be out there. What attracted me to this position is that it is a Director level position.
Secondly, looking at some of the issues the City is facing, what's interesting is that I bring a lot of
public sector utility management experience. I also did about five years of consulting with Veolia,
where we went into public utilities to find efficiencies.

2. Please describe your most recent position and day-to-day responsibilities.

I am currently the Deputy Director and I report to the Director. There are two deputies,
myself and my colleague. I am technically the Chief Operating Officer and the Chief
Engineer. I split my time between the water and wastewater operations and ultimately
the disposal of the water. In addition to running the engineering department and
providing operations support. We are looking at capital funding, looking at the
coordination and management with consultants. We coordinate pretty regularly with the
County. We are finishing up now with what was just paid for by the County. Even though
we think of them as our customers, we start work with them very closely. There are a
little over 286 employees at the aqueduct, of that I am responsible for 200 of them.

3. How many employees do you supervise? Who do you report to?

200 direct reports. Director.

4. Please describe your experience in public sector executive management and leadership.

It started at a low level several years ago when I was working for the Contra Costa Water District,
that was my first kind of management gig. I was the liaison for the regulatory agencies and all of
our wholesale water customers. That was kind of my first start. There was some interaction with
public, we had a big issue with nitrification that required outreach to the community. It really
wasn't until I got to San Francisco where I oversaw a staff of well over 300 where I got into the
management side of it, and then working the beauracracy of the department. It is similar to that
of San Diego, in that it is a department under the City umbrella Involved with personnel issues,
unions, interaction with the public with respect to the capital work that was going on. It required a
lot of outreach to customers that were going to be in charge of construction activities. Finally, in
my current position I serve as the backup for the Executive Director. I meet with the Board
monthly to discuss issues, set budgets, we have rate hearings.

5. This position requires staff to work between multiple divisions of the Department and multiple
City departments. How would you enable your organization to deliver an increasingly cohesive
customer experience internally, including clarity, timeliness, and responsiveness?